Two District 9 candidates support bathroom bill

Last month in Austin, Councilman Joe Krier slipped Texas House Speaker Joe Straus a document that strengthened the resistance to the so-called bathroom bill: a memo by Police Chief William McManus confirming that San Antonio has had no complaints of sexual assaults in public restrooms.

When I asked the councilman’s office to confirm the meeting, his director of communications texted back: “Declined to comment from Joe.”

Krier’s refusal to acknowledge the exchange was understandable; the issue of whether to restrict bathroom use by transgender people is extremely divisive in his North Side district. His quiet effort to undermine the bill also was unsurprising; Krier is entrenched in the local business community, and the legislation is widely seen as damaging to the economy.

More importantly, the episode is a reminder of what’s at stake in the packed council races.

The current council is united in its opposition to the pointlessly harmful legislation. That was clear in October, when council unanimously approved the city’s legislative agenda.

“The position from the entire City Council was very clear, that we are opposed to any legislation that would harm our ability to compete economically,” city spokesman Jeff Coyle said. “And clearly, Senate Bill 6 does that.”

In District 9, Krier has opted not to run for re-election. Ten candidates are running to replace him, and at least two are outspoken in their support of Senate Bill 6.

On Friday, one of them, Patty Gibbons, issued a press release titled “The Bathroom Bill is Fair and Equal.”

“Bathrooms are designed for the sexes: male and female for the purpose of their biological makeup when bodily functions come to call,” Gibbons wrote.

The press release cited a wikipedia entry on gender studies and attacked Mayor Ivy Taylor for “defending a slippery slope of where ‘gender distinctions are a matter of individual interpretation, with no anchor in physical reality.’” (Gibbons was quoting from a book called “Sex Scandal: The Drive to Abolish Male and Female.”)

“It’s going to be an issue in the city of San Antonio, whether we designate our bathrooms open to everybody,” Gibbons told me. “If you look at those gender studies that are happening in our colleges today, however you feel, if you want to recognize yourself in any gender you want … you can say, ‘I’m half-this and half-that.’ They can walk into any bathroom.”

Another District 9 candidate, Patrick Von Dohlen, also supports the legislation: “The Texas Privacy Act would be a great way for us to protect women and children,” he said.

By advocating for the bill, Gibbons and Von Dohlen are also saying they’re OK with lawmakers in Austin hijacking local control, as it would supersede the city’s nondiscrimination ordinance protecting transgender residents from discrimination.

The real slippery slope is exactly this erosion of local control.

Gibbons and Von Dohlen have also managed to position themselves to the right of the mayor on LGBTQ issues, a formidable achievement.

In 2013, Taylor voted against adding protections for sexual orientation and gender identity to the city’s NDO. Two years later, she dismissed the law’s passage as a “waste of time.” (She later apologized for the comment.)

The bathroom bill is a different beast, one that every council member, including the mayor, recognizes as harmful to the city’s economy.

“San Antonio is a vibrant city that’s open to everyone,” Taylor said on Monday. “The NCAA, which will hold its Final Four tournament here next year, knows this. This event and others could go elsewhere if SB 6 becomes state law.”

Gibbons doesn’t buy it.

“I don’t think there has to be an economic impact if (the mayor) defends (the legislation) better,” she said. “To me, this is a public safety issue.”